Culture Tickle

I have been in the US for two weeks and what people call 'the difference' is sinking in now. There are both - pros and cons of this difference which is what I am going to attempt noting down here. I have been wondering since the first week if I  wanted to just 'travel' this new country or 'be here' for two years. Cultural adaptation becomes an important issue when you are going to spend a considerable amount of time in a new place - which means a new geography, new ethnography, new ethics and new climate. The constant struggle of rationalizing a future - or perhaps resolving a future creates further complication with the notion of cultural adaptation. What I essentially mean is that it may be as difficult to get into a culture as getting out of it. Meanwhile, this conflict has arisen between the culture that I assumably must leave behind and that which I am in geographically / ethnographically etc. There are simultaneously two aspects that I need to think of - my original roots and my new ground. If I remain in the middle, I would be losing out much of both the worlds - or at least that it what it seems right now.

In one's attempt to keep peace with both these worlds - there is a mental friction. In the beginning, this is pronounced since one is trying to catch up with two different time zones - and at the same time, switching between cultures while communicating, adjusting to accommodate both these worlds into the same time frame. Imagine being awake at the end of the day to talk back at home when your parents want to and being fresh yourself in the morning to attend to your work in the morning. Or vice versa. When you can not cope up these two worlds within a single time cycle, it creates irritation and frustration; making you feel inefficient. The comparison of this inefficiency with your recent past when you were able to manage much more in the given time makes you feel even worse. This coupled with a lot more activities that you need to balance yourself which were once taken care of by your family members makes you almost vulnerable.

Although, managing a lot more activities is an anticipated phenomena. A more crucial thing is the loss of friends, family or room mates with whom you can share these things. Some people are lucky to move in to a same course or program together with a known friend to a same country. Other people who like things harder make a choice like me - completely isolated from any familiarity. Building this new familiarity almost feels like responsibility. Otherwise, there is no social security or space that you look forward to. The construction of this social space  is really important and essentially you do not know the limits of it - you therefore constantly try to limit it, often to just a single person or two. That may not always be healthy.

On the other side, there are beautiful things that you encounter too. Here, I would become more specific and talk about my experiences.

I never thought Mumbai - the place where I come from is such an important dot on the map. As soon as you introduce yourself as a resident of Mumbai, you can almost see a sparkle in their eye. Mumbai has perhaps become more popular because of Rahul Mehrotra being the Dean of Harvard's Urban Planning Department. However, as more and more students from western countries are being taken to India, Mumbai for studying urban space, I am generally able to find common ground to initiate a conversation. On the other hand, India still remains an exotic location for people to travel. My background in architecture and therefore knowing places helps in connecting further with people  where I am generally familiar with Indian cities that they have visited. Talking about idiosyncratic ideas on India is interesting and I find it fascinating to know peoples' impressions of the East.

Architects are highly regarded here and that is another positive dimension. But in general, all people are highly respected, as long as they are involved in any kind of education. Since systems here are so liberal, many people also do not pursue education seriously.

Lastly, in an orientation, one of the speakers said a very sensitive thing: "You may think that back in your school, you were the best and you would always be amongst the top five; and in the initial semesters, your performance may go down. Many people take it as a challenge to their egos. But remember that you are in a University like Yale, and thus in a class of no. 1s from all across the world. So remind yourself that you are competing with the best of the best, and you are one of them. Don't prejudge. Give yourselves time."

And that quite sums up the feeling right now...

Glossary of terms

Lecture: Class consisting a large number of people (about 50). It's an informative session where you are fed with information on a subject. The information flows one-way, that means there is no real discussion, but just a presentation (oral, etc) by the lecturer.  If the class is too large, it could also be broken up into smaller groups led by individual Teaching Fellows.

Seminar: Seminar is a small class consisting anywhere between 8 - 12 people. Students are expected to read up the material specified by the faculty and be ready in the class. Sometimes, a student may also take the lead to present the readings to the whole class. the class thereafter is about discussion and elaboration of ideas. It is more interactive and dialogue oriented.

Symposium: Lectures constructed around a single theme. The format is presentation + dialogue. A symposium is more public in nature and invites more people to participate. It is generally a day long or 2-3 day long where you have a keynote address announcing the theme, where each session could have a moderator and as a whole, the symposium may have a conclusion.

Colloquium: Colloquium is generally a course which goes along for a semester. Students may get credits for it by attending it. It can involve different speakers each session. Thus, its format could be seminar, lecture, etc. depending upon the strength of the class and involves a longer duration of study unlike a symposium.

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School: A building which houses activities / programs related only to study.

College: A place where different facilities like a place of study, living, eating etc is encompassed in a single building.

Campus: An organization of schools and colleges that lie together in close proximity to each other. They may also extend to include other aspects (like recreational facilities, international centres, etc.) within their geography.

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Course: Is equivalent of a topic in a subject which tries to cover a small aspect of study. Ut has credits you get for (i) attendance and (ii) course work which is generally writing or studio based.

Program: A collection set of courses make a program. Programs make up for a degree in a field.

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Assistantship: Generally assisting the lecturer/professor in tasks that are more physical in nature (menial jobs). These could include setting up projectors, arranging classes, collecting material for the class, preparing presentations, etc. Assistantships are generally paid by the hour, and are low paying positions.

Fellowship: A fellowship generally means that you assist the professor in more intellectual tasks like taking smaller groups of discussions for a larger class or also checking papers written for a class, etc. Fellowships are paid in lumpsum and are not hourly jobs. Sometimes, one may not even be required to teach or work for the class in case he/she gets a fellowship. It could just be an award of a fixed amount of money.

This post can also be read at http://yalestories.wordpress.com/2012/08/31/glossary-of-terms/

The IKEA Store

(details later)

Summer in New Haven

Of people singing, dancing, idling, cycling, talking, walking, jogging, running, eating, playing in the summers at New Haven!

The park above is called New Haven Greens - the Historic park which would like at the centre of the 9 square grid that the town was originally planned as. Squirrels, pigeons, sparrows and bugs move freely right now. The squirrels are large and fat - when they jump, they look really nice. I saw a squirrel crossing road through the communication cables above - it was like a performance! Dogs and cats never stray - they are exotic domesticated pets. All benevolent!

Trees prepare to shed their leaves and streets are beginning to accumulate the most beautiful dried flowers. I have picked some. They look like exotic ornaments. Soon the streets will be laden with exotica! Mohabbatein leaves are everywhere - I mean maple - all picture perfect.

The town is too old and it feels like living in history in the city centre, ie the Yale University! It's quite a thing here too - People hold their heads high for students studying at Yale even in New Haven. The other day when I was trying to frame a picture, a lady came by saying - "Oh! that would make a great picture!" - I smiled when her son prompted enthusiastically, "She studied here!" I reaffirmed and congratulated...Even when people on streets come to know you would be studying at Yale, they wonder and appreciate! It feels very special...

In Search of Academic Space

This article has been published in Evergreen Rachana, August 2012 issue.

- 1 -

“...an architect ought to be able to accomplish much more in all the arts and sciences than the men, who by their own particular kinds of work and the practice of it, have brought each a single subject to the highest perfection.”

 - Pytheos; builder of the temple of Minerva at Priene.

The question of ‘academic orientation’ in the present context is a critical one – it creates a dilemma whether to locate a pattern in the way Academy of Architecture (AOA) has operated by far, or to chart a future orientation for the school. The idea of “orientation” also calls for rooting the present in the past, in order to move into the future.

‘Academic’ relates to studies that are liberal rather than technical or vocational. It often extends to the “theoretical” or “speculative” and is not tied down to a practical purpose or intention in the present or the real world. An ‘academic’ person is generally more interested in the ‘how-s’ & ‘why-s’ and thus is inquiry-oriented. Such inquiry helps one to discover the ‘self’ and defines one’s position or point of view to operate within the complex societal construct.

The relationship between the academic space and practice has always been contested. The perception of this issue with regards to the functioning of AOA has always been unclear. The pressure to cater to the needs of architecture professionals in our country in the early 60s and 70s may have compelled AOA to train students who could soundly ‘build’. AOA has had a reputation of training students who can handle the pragmatic aspects of putting together a building well. The idea of a successful architectural practice then relied on precisely that – academia thus became a dormant function of the practice, only catering to a certain demand of the market.

However, the introduction of the virtual – the television & computer over the 80s and 90s brought in a complete shift. The resulting proliferating technical tools and possibilities of engagement with multiple media challenged the established idea of ‘architectural practice’. The consolidate practice with the single “author-architect” who once controlled and facilitated all aspects of erecting a building dismantled itself into an inter-relationship of a variety of consultants who now handled different aspects of the building industry. 

It is here that I want to re-introduce the idea of being ‘academic’ as explained earlier, to perhaps problematize the way in which we look at institutions, and therefore reconsider the role of an academic space – should such a space exist to critically address the changing modes of production or should it merely become a default function of demand of the market? In other words, should architectural schools enable their students to reflect upon and think of possible newer ways of emerging practices or should they reduce themselves to become vocational centres which equip students with sufficient enough skills to work in architectural offices?

- 2 -

Academic environments are difficult spaces to be achieved and sustained. In our systems, academic environments require new energies to take over existing redundant ways in which we operate and teach. As institutions age, they have a tendency of sliding into a comfort zone where they function through established and time tested norms. If institutions refuse to update themselves periodically, they start deteriorating – a phenomena which can be easily studied through the older architectural schools in the country.

In order to nurture an academic environment, we need inspiring leaders having a wide exposure who can motivate students to take up challenging decisions and act upon what they believe in. Academic spaces need to help students to look within and get interested in themselves. At the same time, it is the students’ responsibility to keep up the spirit of an institution by taking up newer initiatives and participating in a larger dialogue with their city. A successful academic environment will not be possible until both – the students as well as the teachers are equally excited about learning and teaching. Academic spaces can potentially become the most charged grounds for experimentation.

- 3 -

The projects that we tried to conceptualize for the first year design studio over the last four years have consistently tried to evoke an academic discussion. The design programs went far beyond the utilitarian aspects of architecture. Programs for first year have two important academic functions: to make students de-learn fixed ways of thinking drilled into them by schools up till the 12th class; and to reorient them towards a field of possibilities that can be explored through architecture over the five years. The tools we used to construct our programmes were quite different. Instead of the projects like cafeterias and bungalows, we offered students stories and machines. Instead of asking students to design sanitized (minimal, clean looking) spaces, we asked them to engage with garbage and junk. Instead of laying out spaces like kitchens and living rooms, we asked students to program spaces for various emotions and preserving memory. This was essentially done to break the students’ perception of architecture as a profession of constructing buildings and subsequently draw them towards the idea of experience and dwelling. Students come with a heavy bias of designing an architectural form, and crave to make objects instead of spaces. We consciously tried to question this myth through our projects.

Changing tools of operation creates equal proximities for all kinds of students in grabbing the object of architecture as well as engaging with an idea. Our project “Body-Envelop” is one such example where we asked students to document activities of a hawker in the city of Mumbai and design a mobile work-live envelop for them. Students recorded the act of a body negotiating the city through its clothing (the hawkers’ shop) while addressing issues of anthropometrics and shelter in its specificities. The project was rooted in the cultural conditions of the city and made the students sensitive to an alternative way of space making.

Secondly, these tools allow for a wider understanding of the field and neutralize latent social disparities (a project like a ‘cafeteria’ or a ‘bungalow’ talk of a certain ‘class’ of economy and are fairly reductive). Projects like “Marrying Machines” or “Garbage Warriors” invert such notion and look at everyday objects imaginatively and derive new meanings and methods of arriving at an architectural form.

Lastly, such programs help in conceiving newer methodologies of approaching an issue, unlike those, where the parameters of building always remain constant (e.g.: the user, structure, planning, services, etc). Projects based on texts like “The Little Prince” or Kafka’s “The Trial”, although ambitious and successful only in intent, exposed students to mediums like texts, images, poetry and literature making a design process more artistic, abstract and “academic” than technical.

Abstraction allows newer imaginations of form and function, thus challenging purist ideas of shaping a building. Many projects we experimented with also dealt in conceptual spaces. The merit of project like “Hell is very badly done” or a “Repository for the Little Prince” is that it demands equal thinking from the faculty as well as the student to realize an alternative space. Through such projects, both are able to delve into other disciplines of art, philosophy and poetry, making architecture more liberal and holistic. These tools enable debate and discourse within an architectural studio.

Today we increasingly find architectural practices adopt a multidisciplinary approach – those simultaneously involving themselves in research and building. In such view, it is almost imperative that AOA re-establishes its academic grounds in order to sustain larger challenges that the future holds for the architectural profession. Until then, we only remain in search of an academic space.

Image 1: Marrying Machines: Sewing Machine + Coffee Grinder / Viren Modi + Akshay Mokal

Image 2: Garbage Warriors: Sleeping bag out of waste cloths and wires / Aditi Mhase

Image 3: Body-Envelop: A hawking object-space for a corn remover on street / Namrata Lodaya

Image 4: Hell is very badly done: a conceptual apparatus / Raashi Parmar (pic) Kartik Rathod

Image 5: Hell is very badly done: a surreal landscape / Ayushi Singh (pic) Kartik Rathod

At Rare Manuscripts Library, New Haven

Also called as the Beinecke Library.

Bandit Queen

unposted thoughts

Bandit queen songs -
Shekhar Kapur's bandit queen in the first place mixed up some cultural signifiers. They used a rajasthani folk song for a film based on a character from uttar pradesh. I wonder if it was just a mistake, force-fitting or i am wrong (which seems unlikely since the language of the folk song definitely uses marwari words and intonations). Seems he tried to give it proper indian feel for a completely foreign audience...in contrast he makes his characters extremely localised Bhojpuri language which much people wouldn't understand. Again indicates his probable reliance on the subtitles - completely for a foreign audience. So it would not be completely incorrect if i started to look at this work of art as a piece that represents some aspects of India to a foreign audience. How is the notion if india brought out? Child marriage, family structure, political structure of the village and the city....all of it.

So what was the central issue? How Phoolan devi became a bandit queen - a question which could be answered in 10 minutes of the the film. Then what is the film about? I guess two things - feminism and revenge as a societal act. A woman disgusted with pain due to a sexual abuse at a very young age by her husband decides not to succumb to it. She grows up with a hatered towards child marriage and abuse of the female body. Interesting aspect of the film is that phoolan at the right time in her life feels sexually active. She is not against it. She has consensual encounters with a man of his age at an age where she feels comfortable, when she feels love for someone in her life.

At Yale Art Center

It is so satisfying to be here at the Yale art Center. Is it because of the space, mood, people, or what? The space is so inviting, people are waiting to help, one can sit at leisure and read, or just stare outside. Even as others talk, one is not disturbed...how is all of it possible? Is it the genius of the architect in choreographing a space as perfect as this? Is it about the weather or is it about my mental frame of mind right now. I donot know. But this space is so mentally comforting.

To talk about the architecture of this building would be little like recounting tenets of modernist practice and remembering Louis Kahn. The building is extremely simple with a clear distinction between served and serviced spaces. The service core in the centre of the building divides it into two huge chunks of space on each floor that are dedicated to various themes . The segregation of subjects is clean. The place is brilliantly detailed. Absolutely pleasant to see everything just perfect. Nothing disturbs the eye and yet catches your attention. No object competes with another. All lie in peace. The signage is extremely customised and adds to the objects by raising, tilting or shifting their centers of gravity. Thus one also learns about the structure of any sculptural remain on display, completing an imaginary part picture into the whole.

The building merges with its surroundings on one edge through its sunken sculpture gardens. One of these holds Richard Serra's iron slabs. Something that i think will look better when it snows. Right now it is mundane.

The construction of the ceiling structure is not as simple as it looks. The triangular mesh is actually tetrahedral. This means that all beams are angled to form tetrahedral cauffers allowing services to pass through empty spaces that get created on the reverse. Also one of the three axis in which the beams are laid is thicker than the other two. Thus there is a careful hierarchy of beam sizes. On an otherwise superficial look, the structure appears only a simple intersection of vertical beams in 3 axis. One of the books on LIK that I am reading right now at the centre says that LIk may have retained such construction for its sculptural appeal, but when he found a way of hiding the services behind this mesh, he could defend the structure more validly.

The space has a decent collection. Something that I really enjoyed was the South African masks and artefacts. Each piece of it was beautifully crafted and amazingly abstract. This is probably the first time I got to see African folk art so closely and I am completely impressed by it - although I always believed that African art would be much richer. As compared to Asian art, I found African art to be more imaginative, abstract and 'crazy'! It was lovely to see how masks were made using visual imaginations of shapes that appear out of everyday life - cut tree branches, hay, cloth, horns, etc.

I must visit this space again. It has lot of stories to tell. And I am captivated by the crisp display design of this place. Something that I will try to document for my future study.

The Yale Art Center has been designed by Louis I Kahn. The building opposite, ie, the British Art Center too is designed by him. 

My Study of the ceiling

An Alternative Landscape

I wanted to finish this post before I left India. However, here it is now. It's not even funny, but now, every time I address India, I will be talking in third person. and it will be 'US' (pun intended) and 'them'. It will be there and here...and things like that.

This othering is perhaps what I am here for. Most of us back in India constantly feel irritated with the creation of this 'other'. However, there is no other way in which you can bring out the difference in a cultural perspective.

So,

Landscape as a discipline has mostly been about domesticating the existing environment. Other than its functional uses, the aesthetic of landscape doesnot build itself up from the natural outgrowths that we see across small corners around our cities. These 'outgrowths' not only occupy the otherwise undetailed and ugly edges of the built environment of the city, but in turn smoothen them and give a unique aesthetic. Further, they silently talk of a culture.

To take an example, the cross over bridges over the railway tracks in Mumbai do not really have a ethical city-cleaning mechanism. Non-ethical because dust collected by the sweeper on the edges of each step is never thrown in a dust-bin. Even if it is, some portion of it is always left at the sides. Small heaps of such dust accumulate and become little breeding spaces for a lot of insects. These insects bring in warmth and nutrients to the pile by organic and metabolic activities. They churn, defecate in and thus nurture this dust. Crows and other scavengers shit and make nests in these burrows.

Eventually, the heap becomes charged with nutrients, warmth and humidity. With a little rain or water (piss, or any kind of dampness - discarded liquid), we see the springing of ferns, and shrubs through the hardened heaps of dust. Thus, without pots or people for maintenance, these turn into green edges along the walk over bridge. These are strange ways in which landscape realises itself in the city. The heaps continue to take in spit, betel spits, red refuses, all of that - and turn it into something lovely. They try to camouflage the dirt and give a fresh face to the place.

Such shrubs grow almost at any place where dust gets collected. India being a tropical country where dust flows benevolently, these beautiful patterns of landscapes that grow on their own, thus tell a cultural story - of how things work. They remain parasites, yet help in lifting the image of any place. Such shrubs grow on walls, between paver blocks, within crevices of concrete - making beautiful patterns of green. Can such cultural  reading be harnessed to create landscapes around the city? Further, can cultures, instead of landscapes be strategised to achieve newer aesthetics?

Readings of environmental conditions in cultural ways may thus manifest landscapes (and landscape designs) that are compliant with city conditions. They do not become burden on cities (by ways of management plans for landscapes / investment in infrastructure for landscape, etc), but become soft interfaces for human interventions that otherwise leave the city rough edged.

First Day in the US of A

I am finally in US and the reason I am able to write this post is because I am jet lagged. It's 4 am in the morning here and I am awake - and although I tried to sleep back again, my head started buzzing with so many things I need to record!

To begin from the beginning - my flight which was supposed to be a direct one, was first made into a single stop over at Delhi, and later a two-stop flight via Delhi and Paris. This made the journey about 4 hours longer. I took all this time to calm down my mind with thousands of questions, opinions, suggestions, ideas, etc that people back there gave me regarding check ups, security, what to take care and blah and blah. I guess I just chose to forget all things - because I just wanted to experience all of it first hand. I don't remember of making any mistake in this entire process - it has been super smooth (touch wood!).

And at the airport, my parents called, and made me meet another 23-year-old boy who was travelling to New York for his studies. Initially I though it would be nice to connect, but i was taken aback too soon by his 23-year-oldness. You could make out his immense apprehension - as he kept taking out and putting back his pass port from his little wallet that hung around his neck for every check that we encountered. I tried to stick around with him till Delhi and then I said - it was enough of him. I kept getting last in every queue due to him! But the age of 23 is like that. You know that you know, but you know that you need to know more, so you are not sure of any action that you do. I was like that too. So I kept assisting this boy for some time - and like all Indian parents, and like me too, he was over-parented. Well anyway. Let's move ahead.

The flight was boring - the food Air India served seemed to be as old as ancient times and nothing tasted good. I cursed AI from the bottom of my heart. I was hoping to get a glimpse of the Eiffel Tower at Paris, but I didnt even find the Hoffman's avenues! Seems I will make a trip to find out soon. 

Taking off from Paris, we were over the sea for a very long time. There was nothing except blueness and thick layers of clouds. And I waited till I saw the coast of US. When it finally arrived - I only saw huge parking lots. I landed NY in time and it took a long time for the immigration queue till I went to one of the counters - when I was asked by the young volunteer about my status. He informed me that I was in the wrong queue. I  simply asked him if I must get into the long queue all over again and he said he would just put me into the right counter as my turn came.

Paris

Paris

Paris

Paris

The shore of USA

I could already spot my baggage from the immigration area and was already relieved - we were worried of all the fuss that AI created. I took out a trolley and promptly picked up my baggage anticipating further checks. But, there was nothing of all that. I plainly came out of the airport and spotted Neelima who was waiting to receive me out of the airport. 

At the airport, there were cab drivers, exactly like that in Mumbai - asking you for hiring them. I wondered if I had crossed continents. Neelima helped me take a bus ticket quickly and we were on a shuttle. We spoke and updated each other over our journey. As I looked outside, I felt as if I was in a video game. Buildings passing by at a speed same as those in games and shapes and sizes that I once experienced while playing bike games on the computer. This time, all was real. Grand Central arrived soon - Rohit (Manudhane), who has only been a pen friend (knowing me only by my blog) came there to receive me. It was extremely pleasant. Both, Neelima and Rohit cut short their job hours to coordinate my arrival. We got into the Grand Central station terminal and saw a bunch of tourists led by a guide - explaining the heritage of the place. It was so Mumbai-like. People were busy, running, buying, talking, waiting, etc. I could not believe I was in New York!

We had to take tickets to New Haven and I figured out queues, which I though would be ones I would need to get into. However, Rohit led me to the ticket kiosks from where I took ticket to New Haven and got some change - dollars - one of which I got converted into quarters from the store opposite. People have been so helpful by far (touch wood again!). Our train was in an hour and so we though of spending some time at the station. We soon went to a restaurant and kept our luggage. I told both - Neelima and Rohit that I wasn't feeling I was in NY finally!! Felt like dumping my bag and just exploring the tallness of the buildings. 

However, we spoke, joked, had a photo session and also skipped a train since we wanted to spend more time with each other already! NY was fine with it!

I finally boarded the train - secured my luggage on a seat and bid good bye to Neelima and Rohit. The train soon departed and we cut across a landscape I would have encountered from CST to the north via the Harbour line. This was the first instance of being surrounded by ONLY Americans and still, it didnt feel different. It only reminded me of the Mumbai local trains. The conductor was jovial and happy - and he did look down upon me with my extra baggage on the seat. He went ahead to say - "That's a complete no no - while people are standing in the gang way". I asked him if I could keep the bag on the aisle, and he sweetly said, "Not in the aisle, probably there...", pointing at another place, which was occupied. I smiled away with guilt. 

The train was phenomenally quiet. It felt as if we were flying! We reached New Haven in exactly 1 hour 45 minutes - as specified. This was the first time I had to handle two of my huge bags all by myself . It wasnt so difficult. As I waited back for the crowd to clear for me to take my time with the staircase, a lady hinted me to use the elevator. I was so glad - I just walked up to the elevator where I already saw a few people with their bags. Fellow passengers helped me secure my bags inside and held the lift doors open for me. It seemed as if it was their duty to do so! I was impressed. It just made my life easier. I called up my land lady from the station and she said she'd be there in 9 minutes! And she was!

She drove me to her house explaining me little things and I finally reached my home. Carolina (the land lady) seems to be an extrovert and we spoke a lot. She is in the process of furbishing her house and thus I was already able to give her a lot of suggestions :P

She seemed in oblivion of all options available to her.

I haven't seen any of New Haven yet and I feel exactly like I felt in Chandigarh some 8 years ago. Being in the house, I can hear silence, and a car or two passing by once in a while. It's extremely quiet and I am relaxed. This space already seems productive to me. I have written almost about 1400 words!!

Check this space for more of US!